You want to know what’s odd? A friendship with an expiration date. We’ll get to that in a bit.
We moved into our new home in June. A huge Victorian duplex – at some point the some was split into two – we had half and Steve had half.
Immediately after moving in, Steve was right there, being incredibly helpful. Always ready to lend a hand with moving anything heavy, or helping out with any of the dozens of household projects I was tackling.
Now, it didn’t take me too long to notice that there were an awful lot of people hanging out on his front porch, knocking on his door at all hours, etc. It became pretty obvious – this guy is slingin’ dope. I don’t have a personal problem with it – hell, I smoked my share of weed in high school – but I also have a baby daughter.
So, as Steve and I were sharing a beer on my porch a few weeks ago, I laid it out – I’m you’re friend, but I’m not going to raise my little girl with a drug dealer next door. As long as you keep on with this business of yours, things won’t always be so copasetic. Six, seven years down the road, I’ll be doing whatever it takes to keep you and your business away from my family.
He was good about it – he really is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever know. I suspect that he got into dealing just as a way to meet people and make new friends. He understood where I was coming from, and we left it as a “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” thing.
Well, we’re not going to have to worry about it now. It seems he thought it’d be fun to drink a bottle of rum and pop a few Oxycodone. After three days in a coma, the docs pulled the plug. I’m just getting back from his wake. 22 years old – what a fricking waste.
I opened this thread to post a few lines from The old Dope Peddler but some how that does not seem right.
Hal you have once again proven what a cool guy you are.
That’s too bad. It sounds as if he could have been one of the few who could have straightened himself out, given a little more time. It’s a shame he never got that chance.
Maybe I am just a dick, but I don’t feel bad for the guy. Being that he is in my age bracket, I know that down the line, he is just one more loser that I won’t have to pay for when he is in jail, going through rehab, or hurting others. Plus that is just a little more social security in the bank for me. He knew what he was getting into, and chose to do it anyway.
Is it sad that he died?.. Maybe not… Who knows, he might have tried to hurt you or your family later down the line when things got tough and he needed a quick fix.
How much personal experience do you have with current and former drug users?
What dope are you referring to? Surely your not implying that smoking some weed will leave you with a 1 in 100 chance of not going to an early grave? From what I recall of your past posts I must be misunderstanding what your saying (I may have you confused with someone else).
Hal Briston, I agree with Rick. You have indeed proven again that you are a very good person. I admire that you gave the situation as much patience as you did, but if I personally was in your place I would have put my boot down much harder. He sounds like he was a decent guy but you don’t know that about all the people coming over. Due to the illegal nature of drugs it often attracts the lowest common denominator of people (as I’m sure you know) and that’s heat I’d rather not have around my family. Still though I’m sorry you (and your neighbor) had to go through this ordeal, take care bud and here’s hoping you don’t end up with someone worse next door.
Forgot to mention last night – his organs were harvested and his heart, lungs, and one kidney apiece each found new homes. Sad to see him go, but if you’re going, then saving four other lives is a good way to go about it.
One of my ex-boyfriends overdosed at the age of 24 (he was my ex before the OD). It’s just horrible when someone that young dies, and it’s especially frustrating when their own dumbassery caused it.
You both seem to have “pot” confused with “heroin.”
I don’t care if he was huffing Cool Whip… It still isn’t what I would want my family around, nor the type of person I would want to be associated with, even by proximity… Again, maybe I am just a dick, but drug users and dealers don’t rank real high on my “people I hang with” list… If that is how you choose waste your life, then so be it, it really doesn’t concern me, until you bring it to my doorstep… That is just how I feel, and I doubt anyone can change that… I don’t care how “nice” a dealer is, they still choose to live on the “wrong side of the law”, and that just doesn’t fly with me…
Please don’t consider this a personal attack, I am just expressing my opinions.
Its a fine opinion…perhaps you missed the part where Hal just got back from a FUNERAL for a FRIEND. And, in another thread, I might agree with you. In other words, I suggest you take this somewhere other than THIS thread.
Hal, so sorry. Such a waste. I had a chance to spend some time this winter doing family week at rehab for my sister. Saw a lot of people trying to pick up pieces of their lives - saw a lot of people I didn’t think had a chance in hell of making it this time. And a lot of them were really nice people.
934spe, you didn’t note the part of your post that I replied to: you wrote that “he might have tried to hurt you or your family later down the line when things got tough and he needed a quick fix.” People who smoke pot don’t “fix.” Pot is not physically addictive.
I don’t care what you think of drug users or dealers, your statement was inaccurate for the type of drug that we knew he dealt (we don’t even know that he ever smoked pot).
No offense taken over here – I can fully understand where you’re coming from.
Of course, that’s probably why I was friendly with this guy in the first place – I try to fully understand where anyone is coming from. Until it starts having a direct effect on my family and home, it doesn’t bother me if someone wants to sell a few dime bags next door. But I know a hell of a lot of people wouldn’t put up with it – for good reason.
I guess what’s really bothering me is this – I’ve seen many people my age and younger put into the ground, but Steve was the first one since I became a parent. I look at my little girl, at all the hopes and dreams I have for her and who she’ll grow into. And then I think about Steve’s parents and how they would’ve held him as a baby, having those same hopes and dreams. Just makes me feel unbelievably bad for them.
I guess what I’m really saying is, geez I hope my daughter doesn’t grow up to be a royal fuckup.
I don’t believe anyone asked you to. My issue was with your ignorance, not your attitude: you talked about marijuana as if it were heroin. There are lots of people who agree with your opinion (for all you know I might be one of them), but when you get your facts wrong it weakens your argument. Understand?
